While the domestic passenger car market has been witnessing significant recovery in the recent months, primarily due to pent up demand, things are not look as rosy when it comes to export operations.
Thanks to the global pandemic which is greatly affecting several international auto markets as well as logistical operations, car exports from India in September 2020 witnessed a 35.86% decline compared to the same month in 2019.
The Ford EcoSport continues to be the most exported car from the country with a tally of 6,203 units last month. With a YoY decline of 8.28%, the compact crossover fared better than most other models.
However, it has a solid contender in Kia Seltos which registered export volume of 5,176 units. With the rising popularity of Seltos in international markets, the mid-premium SUV has the potential to replace EcoSport as the export leader if Kia’s Anantapur factory can produce enough units.
| No | Car Exports | Sep-20 | Sep-19 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EcoSport | 6,203 | 6,763 |
| 2 | Seltos | 5,176 | 471 |
| 3 | Beat | 4,990 | 5,667 |
| 4 | Verna | 2,805 | 5,297 |
| 5 | Creta | 2,712 | 3,260 |
| 6 | Spresso | 2,621 | 0 |
| 7 | Baleno | 2,285 | 1,609 |
| 8 | Vento | 2,259 | 4,460 |
| 9 | Grand i10 | 1,173 | 3,283 |
| 10 | Aura | 1,102 | 0 |
| 11 | DZIRE | 941 | 1,385 |
| 12 | Compass | 925 | 342 |
| 13 | Elite i20 | 678 | 969 |
| 14 | Santro | 611 | 1,312 |
| 15 | Alto | 609 | 711 |
| 16 | Figo | 532 | 5,222 |
| 17 | Venue | 519 | 585 |
| 18 | KUV100 | 517 | 506 |
| 19 | Swift | 412 | 1,003 |
| 20 | Celerio | 318 | 514 |
| 21 | Polo | 274 | 1,018 |
| 22 | Ertiga | 243 | 436 |
| 23 | Triber | 133 | 1 |
| 24 | Kwid | 127 | 789 |
| 25 | CIAZ | 126 | 216 |
| 26 | KICKS | 90 | 126 |
| 27 | Brezza | 84 | 16 |
| 28 | BR-V | 74 | 124 |
| 29 | IGNIS | 73 | 1,041 |
| 30 | Scorpio | 68 | 124 |
| 31 | WR-V | 66 | 31 |
| 32 | Datsun Go | 46 | 374 |
| 33 | Maxximo | 45 | 135 |
| 34 | Datsun Redigo | 40 | 0 |
| 35 | Sonet | 38 | 0 |
| 36 | City | 36 | 60 |
| 37 | GO + | 35 | 38 |
| 38 | Eeco | 35 | 54 |
| 39 | Bolero | 34 | 14 |
| 40 | Xuv500 | 32 | 37 |
| 41 | Thar | 20 | 0 |
| 42 | XUV300 | 15 | 67 |
| 43 | Amaze | 14 | 606 |
| 44 | Figo Aspire | 9 | 1,880 |
| 45 | Bolero Power Plus | 1 | 0 |
| 46 | Sunny | 0 | 6,680 |
| 47 | Xcent | 0 | 2,294 |
| 48 | Micra | 0 | 498 |
| 49 | Liva | 0 | 396 |
| 50 | Etios | 0 | 312 |
| 51 | S-Cross | 0 | 138 |
| 52 | Jazz | 0 | 125 |
| 53 | Wagon R | 0 | 18 |
| 54 | TUV300 | 0 | 13 |
| 55 | Marazzo | 0 | 7 |
| 56 | V-CROSS | 0 | 3 |
| 57 | Innova | 0 | 3 |
| 58 | Fortuner | 0 | 2 |
| 59 | XL6 | 0 | 1 |
| – | Total | 39,146 | 61,036 |
The Chevrolet Beat may have long gone from the Indian new car market but the economy hatchback enjoys enough demand in South American markets to emerge as the third most exported car from India. GM India’s Talegaon plant dispatched 4,990 units overseas last month, registering a YoY slide of 12%.
The Hyundai Verna sedan suffered a significant 47% decline at 2,805 units while the new gen Creta managed a tally of 2,712 units which is almost 17% less than what its predecessor managed in September 2019.
Even though the Baleno’s export volumes grew by 42% to 2,285 units, it was outrun by Spresso for the most exported Maruti title. 2,621 units of the low-cost small car were shipped, making it the 6th most exported car last month.
The aging VW Vento registered 49.35% decline to take 8th spot with a figure of 2,259 units. The Hyundai Grand i10 and Aura registered export volumes of 1,173 (-64.27%) and 1,102 units respectively to finish 9th and 10th.
The Jeep Compass registered an impressive 170% growth to register export of 925 units while the Ford Figo hatchback took a hit of 89% as it was discontinued in Europe (Ka+). The Nissan Sunny which had been one of the leaders in the export segment did not even open its account last month. In September 2019, 6,680 units of Sunny were shipped abroad, meaning the loss of volume this year would sting the already under-utilized Alliance plant near Chennai.
While only 38 units of Kia Sonet left the country, it is a model to watch out far in the coming months. The South Korean automaker has previously stated its brand new sub-4m crossover has generated huge interest in several markets. After ruling the domestic SUV sales charts, Sonet and Seltos could rule the export charts as well in the coming months.